Customer Reviews

Fuzzy Navel (Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Series)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Fast-paced and funny aptly describes the Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels stories so well crafted by J. A. Konrath. With this, the fifth in the series following Dirty Martini, he ups both suspense and danger.

What begins has an investigation of sniper shootings ends in the worst nightmare Daniels could imagine. Earlier, she received word that her psychopathic enemy Alex Kork has committed suicide. It's a relief to have such an amoral, pitiless person gone forever. Not so.

As Jack is pondering the shootings, the work of some weirdo vigilantes who loathe sex offenders and cops, she receives a call from her mother asking her to come home. Jack knows something isn't right and she races home after telling her partner that she'll be back in a few hours.

Home isn't what it once was - she finds her mother and Latham, her fiancé, held prisoner by Kork, quite alive and deadlier than ever. As Jack is largely responsible for Kork's imprisonment, the demented diva is set on revenge in spades. Further the wacky snipers have managed to track Jack's car and they want to join the fun of offing Jack.

How she can combat the bloodthirsty Kork and the snipers is the key question.

Author Konrath has been quoted as saying he wanted to create a series with "laugh out loud humor and enough chills to make the reader lock all the doors." He certainly has!

- Gail Cooke

If you like unadulterated, non-stop violence, this novel is for you. It is the latest in the Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels series, and begins with three vigilantes conducting simultaneous sniping murders of three sex offenders. Jack is on the scene and one of the shooters thinks she saw him so he gets his confederates to join him in following her home to eliminate her as a witness.

At the same time, Jack's old nemesis Alex Kork escapes from the facility where she is incarcerated and invades Jack's home with the intent of torturing and killing Jack and others responsible for her capture. She begins a game of Russian roulette, asking Jack all sorts of questions. If an answer is incorrect, Alex pulls the trigger, giving the selected victims---Jack's mom and fiancé--a one-in-six chance of survival. Then the snipers show up and all kinds of mayhem occurs.

The story is a continuous series of gruesome murders, maiming, fighting, wounds and other misfortunes. If that's your cup of tea, fine, but it might not appeal to everyone.

This is the first book I have listened to by K.A.Konrath (even though its no 5 in the series). I had no problem following the characters and their connections with each other.

Lt.Jack Daniels is trapped in her own home with those she loves, with a psycho bent on killing them all inside with them. But there is also a band of crazed snipers outside wanting the same. It is quick and enjoyable read.

It is a genuinely, nail-bitingly thrilling, while, at the same time, being laugh-out-loud funny.

The villains are colourful, plentiful and bloodthirsty. Even the cat vicously attacks someone right at the wrong time while bullets are flying. Jack and her posse find themselves besieged on every side and its unimaginable how they'll get out of this one.

Worth a read or an audible listen.

I love the Jack Daniels series, but the reasons are so odd its tough to put to words. Jack is intelligent and tough without being manish and unemotional. Her friends and partners are unique and different and sometimes annoying. Still, what really drags you in to a Jack Daniels mystery is the violence surrounded by crazy laughter. "Fuzzy Navel" the latest entry started out with such harsh violence that it almost turned me away...almost. Just when you can't take anymore I found myself sputtering with giggles at the dialogue. The plot is solid and the action is nonstop. Start with Whiskey Sour and read them all.

Having read the last four books in this series, I find myself completely addicted to this author and to Jack Daniels and her entourage. I thought the premise of handling the story line over the course of a day was an interesting way to give us more information about the characters. There never was a dull moment and the action scenes kept coming and coming.

As with all of the books by the author, the writing and editing were superb. My biggest complaint about this book was that the ending gave us just a little bit too much of a cliffhanger. While I typically like to have a good cliffhanger ending I cannot imagine reading this book as it first came out and having to wait an entire year. Having said that, it definitely ensured that I will read the next one.

This book is recommended for all fans of the Jack Daniels series. It is definitely one you will not want to miss. This series is recommended for readers who like a light mystery, something like Stephanie Plum, with a little less silliness (not all bad, Stephanie can be annoying!)

I don't know how J.A.Konrath does it. His fifth installment of the Jacqueline Daniels series, Fuzzy Navel won't let you down.

The book is packed full of suspense, action and humor. If you are looking for the perfect blend or gore and humor, Konrath has the golden ticket.

I usually finish each book in one day. This saying is corny but true, you can't put it down! (my kids and pets can attest to that!)

Konrath delivers an excellent read with each new "Jack" Daniels mystery. The plots stay fresh and exciting with a strong, smart heroine leading the way.

Looking forward to the new book, Cherry Bomb. The only downside to reading this series is that Konrath cannot write them fast enough!

Thanks for the chills and laughter Mr. Konrath!
Elizabeth Brux

Another firing-on-all-cylinders, nastily fun Konrath outing. J.A. does something even favorite writers of mine like Robert B. Parker don't do often enough: give us sufficiently different plots from book to book. Here, J.A. jumps from the sprawling, city-wide "Die Hard With a Vengeance" type plot of "Dirty Martini" (great book, read it!) to an intimate, mostly single-setting, cat-and-mouse thriller (actual cat included) that's almost like- with its many flying bullets and frequent spurting of blood- a perverse form of community theater.

But even though the plot is brand spankin' new, you still get the old Konrath reliables: a likable (or, "somewhat likable", in the case of P.I. Harry McGlade) core cast; vicious, malevolent villains (independently coming at Jack from two different directions, no less) and the author's patented big laughs/big scares formula. Be warned, though, there's some "big goriness" this time out, too, mostly in the form of some do-it-yourself home surgery and transfusion techniques (you'll never look at a printer ink syringe the same way again). If you can stand wince-inducing content in your thrillers, you'll be fine. Heck, even if you can't, you should stick it out. There's lots of fun and excitement that doesn't involve blood and gore.

Fair warning, though: J.A. pulls a little trick in the end to give you that extra bit of motivation to pick up the next book in the series, a trick similar to one pulled by Janet Evanovich a few novels ago... but leave it to J.A. to use Evanovich's "you have to pick up the next book to see who our heroine is staring at lovingly through her doorway and giving her heart to" and changing it to a mystery involving blood and violence (I'll say no more). The author's teasing theatrics might annoy some, but I liked it. If done in moderation, I'm all for a little gimmicky showmanship now and then. Besides, I was already planning to read the next installment anyway.

Oh, and just to show that I'm not a pathetic, salivating Konrath "yes man", I will say that- as an enthusuastic drinker- one thing in the book genuinely did bother me: this was yet another book in the series where the beverage named in the title was not actually consumed by one of the author's many hard-drinking characters. No one ordered, drunk, or regurgitated a fuzzy navel once! It was bad enough when the third book, "Rusty Nail", featured not the tasty beverage but actual rusty nails being driven into people and being stepped on, but now Konrath's idea of mentioning the current title in the story is to reference Harry McGlade's hairy belly button. I'm not kidding. Okay, it was a funny scene, but as a concerned drinker, let's get back to some actual drinking, what do you say?

But, ahem, I am, as said before, still on board for "Cherry Bomb", the next title in the series. But all I gotta say is, somewhere in that book, Jack Daniels better drink one.

How JA Konrath does it, I'll never know. His Jack Daniels mysteries are genuinely, nail-bitingly thrilling, while, at the same time, being laugh-out-loud funny.

It sounds like an impossible challenge, if only because you'd think the laughs would relieve the tension. Well, they don't. In much the same way that fresh strawberries enhance a dry champagne, JA Konrath's tremendous sense of humor only serves to strengthen the sense that his characters are likable people to whom you can relate, not super-tough action figure automatons. They laugh at their own foibles, they don't take themselves too seriously, they trip over their feet and their motivations are sometimes ridiculous.

At times, the humor is broad and on other occasions it's subtle, but it always serves to make the dark moments even scarier, as Konrath whiplashes you between laughter and fear. Fuzzy Navel, Konrath's latest roller coaster of a novel, is a ride with higher-highs, lower-lows, and bigger stakes than ever.

By containing most of Fuzzy Navel to one setting over a short period of time, Konrath ramps up the suspense to a level beyond any of his previous works. The villains are colorful, plentiful and bloodthirsty. Jack and her posse find themselves besieged on every side, and its unimaginable how they'll get out of this one. It's a dull cliche to warn someone that they won't be able to put a book down, but, sorry, it's true. I'm just glad that I started reading Fuzzy Navel in the morning; otherwise, I might have been up all night.

The worst part of finishing a Jack Daniels mystery is the sad realization that Konrath can't turn them out on a weekly basis. Jack is one of my favorite literary heroines - she's smart, tough and funny, a strong and sexy mix of Rosalind Russell, Sigourney Weaver and, just because I like her, Holly Hunter. I can't wait till the next time we get to spend a day together.

Scott Sherman, author, First You Fall: A Kevin Connor Mystery

I came across the first book in this series at a Friend's of the Library book sale, I picked it up because the name caught my attention (Whiskey Sour) and laughed when I read the character's name. I've been hooked on these books ever since. If you haven't read them definitely start at the beginning.

Fuzzy Naval was a great read, I wanted to know what happened so badly that I stayed up much too late to finish it. All I can say is I want the next book NOW!!!!

J. A. Konrath has served up another round of the Long Island Iced Tea of mysteries: one part murder, two parts mayhem, with a generous splash of humor and garnished with some of the most interesting characters in current fiction. FUZZY NAVEL combines all the ingredients that I'm addicted to, and I can't wait to read the next one because he leaves us dangling with a crazy cliffhanger here.

Among his many occupations, Konrath teaches writing. It would be wonderful if he could pass on his gifts and inspire other authors to follow his recipe for writing books that cannot be put down, that make you laugh out loud and that have you biting your nails all at the same time. FUZZY NAVEL has many of the same elements that first drew me to the series, but there has been a noticeable polish to this work. While there is still more action than any sane person would choose, there is also some restraint. Konrath is not playing gross out just for the sake of shock value. He has found a way to write a tighter story without losing any of the delicious flavors.

The cast of characters that propel this suspenseful story include many who we have met before, including Jack's mom Mary, her portly partner Herb, her fiancé Latham, and her not-so-favorite P.I. Harry McGlade. Added to the mix are three snipers who start out to avenge the rape of one's wife by killing three sex offenders simultaneously. The wife's perpetrator would be among them, thus avenging her while diverting suspicion away from the husband. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but things go horribly wrong when one of the vigilantes finds that sniping at cops is just as much fun as sniping at perverts.

While Jack and Herb are being called from one sniper shooting scene to another, a vicious killer is preparing revenge on Jack. Alex Kork, who Jack had disfigured and arrested, has escaped from prison and will not stop until she accomplishes her goal. Her plan is to hurt Jack by torturing her and her loved ones in ways that only a psychotic mind could imagine.

Suspense builds as Alex tricks Jack into rushing home. Meanwhile, the snipers evade the police and follow the "lady cop" who got a look at one of them and could identify him. Everything hits the fan at Jack and Mary's new home in the peaceful suburbs.

In this exciting novel there is no doubt who the bad guys are or about what they have in store for Jack. Short chapters take the reader from one character's perspective to another's. We get to know exactly what Alex is planning, what each of the snipers is thinking and how Jack plans to protect herself and her loved ones from the terrors at hand.

Through all the life-threatening violence, Konrath is able to lighten the tension as Harry cracks wise and Jack demonstrates the skills that show just why she was able to become a police lieutenant. Basic values and character keep those under siege going against all odds. They never give up on themselves or each other. The non-stop action provides the thrills of "ER," the endurance of "Survivor," the aggressiveness of "Rage in the Cage" and the humor of "NYPD Blue." FUZZY NAVEL is definitely one you'll have trouble putting down.

--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding